rmer displayed the intensest bigotry and prejudice,
and the latter all that flippant insolence which he subsequently
displayed at my trial, and which appears to be an inseparable part of
his character. When, for instance, I ventured to correct Sir Hardinge
Giffard on a mere matter of fact, as is quite customary in such cases;
when I sought to point out that the Indictment already removed included
Mr. Ramsey and myself, and not Mr. Bradlaugh only; Justice North stopped
me with "Not a word, sir, not a word."

Sir Hardinge Giffard made a very short speech, knowing that such judges
did not require much persuasion. He moved that the rule _nisi_ should be
discharged; put in a copy of the Christmas Number of the _Freethinker_,
which he described as a gross and intentional outrage on the religious
feelings of the public; alleged, as was perfectly true, that it was
still being sold; and urged that the case was one that should be sent
for trial at once.

My reply was longer. After claiming the indulgence of the Court for
having to appear in person, owing to my purse being shorter than the
London Corporation's, I laid before their lordships my reasons for
asking them to make the rule absolute. I argued that, as a press
offence, our case was eminently one for a special jury; that the law
of blasphemy, which had not been interpreted for a generation, was
very indefinite, and a common jury might be easily misled; that as
contradictory statements of the common law existed, it was highly
advisable to have an authoritative judgment in a superior Court; that
grave questions as to the relations of the statute and the common
law might also arise; that it was manifestly unfair, while a sweeping
Indictment for blasphemy was removed to a higher Court, that I should be
compelled to plead in a lower Court on a similar charge; and that it was
unjust to try our case at the Old Bailey when the City Corporation was
prosecuting us.

To none of these reasons, however, did their lordships vouchsafe a reply
or extend a consideration. Baron Huddleston simply held the Christmas
Number of the _Freethinker_ up in Court, and declared that no sane man
could deny that it was a blasphemous libel--a contumelious reproach on
our Blessed Savior. But that was not the point at issue. Whether the
prosecuted publication was a blasphemous libel or not, was a question
for the jury at the proper time and in the proper place. All Baron
Huddleston was concerned with wa